One major improvement can be credited for the Royals avoiding such misfortune thus far in 2013.

"It’s starting pitching," manager Ned Yost said. "I’m not saying we’re never going to have a three-game losing streak or a four-game losing streak, but starting pitching stops all that."

More specifically, starting pitchers like James Shields.

Acquired in an offseason trade with Tampa Bay, Shields was facing his former team for the first time Tuesday. Tampa Bay’s 2-0 lead held up until the sixth inning, but in the visitors’ dugout, Rays manager Joe Maddon knew what was coming.

"So many times he’s given up one or two in the first and that’s all the other team would get," Maddon said of Shields. "So I was concerned at that point."

Shields retired the last 13 batters he faced and allowed just two hits after the first inning. The Royals won 8-2, and Maddon’s concerns had been realized.

* * * * * *

Not long ago, Tampa Bay was in a position familiar to Kansas City: 100-loss seasons, No. 1 draft picks and a payroll too small to compete with Boston or New York. The team had never won more than 70 games when Shields was called up in 2006.

Then came a 30-plus-win turnaround, one that showed teams like the Royals you don’t need Billy Beane to succeed in a small market. In 2008, the Rays won 97 games, and they haven’t finished below .500 since.

One look at the Rays’ record books shows how instrumental Shields was in transforming a perennial loser into a World Series contender. In seven years with the team, Shields set franchise records in innings pitched, games started, wins, complete games, shutouts and strikeouts.

David Price, a Cy Young winner and three-time All-Star for the Rays, still calls Shields "one of my best friends" and looked up to him as the staff’s leader. Alex Cobb, a second-year pitcher who started against Shields on Tuesday, said he "wants to be just like him," and it shows in their nearly identical pitching motions.

"I have some really good friends over there," Shields said. "But when it comes to game time, I’ll go out there and try to beat them up. When I go out on the mound, I’m zoned in."

Acquiring the Rays’ most experienced starter wasn’t a walk in the park for the Royals.

Kansas City shipped out its three best prospects — Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi and Mike Montgomery — in return for Shields, Wade Davis and Elliot Johnson, a utility player who had been in the Tampa Bay organization for 11 years.

"It’s hard to describe really," Johnson said of his move to Kansas City. "You go from sending your family all kinds of Devil Rays gear, then you go to Rays gear and then all of a sudden that stops, and you’re supposed to jump ship right away."

The trade didn’t go over well in Tampa Bay’s clubhouse, but Kansas City wasn’t exactly jumping for joy either. "Baseball America" and ESPN both consider Myers one of the five best prospects in baseball. He’s hitting .298 with three home runs and 17 RBIs through 24 games in Triple-A Durham.

Odorizzi is 2-0 with a 3.33 ERA through five starts in Durham, and Montgomery pitched just three innings this season before being placed on the seven-day disabled list.

Pessimistic Royals fans questioned if Myers, the outfielder of the future, should have garnered a bigger return than a starting pitcher who only impacts one out of every five games.

Those concerns were eased after it became apparent Shields’ effect goes far beyond the mound. The veteran’s influence on a young Royals team is obvious.

"He’s bonded really well with his teammates, and I think his teammates knew how big (Tuesday’s) game was for him," Yost said. "They’ve bought in."

It will take years to fully assess who won the trade, but in the meantime Shields is intent on answering the more important question of whether the Royals can win as a team.

* * * * * *

A brief smile comes across Shields’ face when asked if the Royals have championship aspirations.

He knows firsthand how difficult it is to turn around a struggling franchise. The 31-year-old won’t make predictions about individual marks or win totals, but he talks about the pitching staff with a measure of ownership.

He wants the starters to pitch 1,000 innings, which averages out to 6.17 innings per start. Early in the season, the Royals are on pace at 6.24.

"We have to go out and execute on our pitches," Shields said. "If we can do that, we can give our bullpen some rest."

The common denominator in all of Shields’ goals is an emphasis on helping others succeed.

"I’m giving us a good chance to win every single night and that’s all I care about," Shields said. "I don’t care if I give up four or five runs or shut someone out. As long as I’m giving my team a chance to win, that’s all I care about."

Some starters, like Davis (5.55 ERA in 24? innings pitched) and Luis Mendoza (7.00 in 18), struggled in April. Still, Shields has kept the unit on track for the 1,000-inning plateau while dueling with the likes of Chris Sale, Cole Hamels, R.A. Dickey, Clay Buchholz and Justin Verlander. Shields’ record is a modest 2-2, but his 3.00 ERA has been invaluable while facing that gauntlet of aces.

Aside from a winning mentality, Shields made a tangible addition to the clubhouse. A one-of-a-kind neon bar sign hangs near Bruce Chen’s locker. The sign, which includes a deer and the letter W, is turned on by whomever Shields decides is most worthy after each Royals home win.

"It’s not necessarily the guy that performs the best in the game," Shields said. "We’re going to try to spread it out. Maybe a guy who has the key play of the game or something like that. We’ll give them a little T-shirt, and they turn on the ol’ light."

Keeping in line with his team-first mindset, Shields doesn’t flip the switch himself. Even when he was clearly the focus of Tuesday’s win against the Rays, the honor was bestowed upon Mike Moustakas, who sparked the Royals’ rally with his first home run of the season.

"To go out there and get as excited as he was, he deserves it," Shields said.

The sign may seem silly to outsiders, but like so many sacred things in baseball clubhouses, only a select few can fully understand its significance.

"It cultivates a winning attitude," Yost said. "It doesn’t matter if you go 0-for-4 or 4-for-4, at the end of the day we won a baseball game, and we’re going to celebrate together."

Praise of the sign may detract from the pitcher who installed it, but that’s the last thing on Shields’ mind. The Royals’ newly established leader knows that, regardless of who turns on the sign, as long as it’s lit, he’s doing his job.

And with each illumination, the Royals are one step closer to a turnaround of Tampa Bay proportions.

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